Sunday, 2 December 2012

A brick factory with recently built high rise towers in Baoshan district, Shanghai: photo by Remko Tanis, 11 September 2012

I had a burst of adrenalin today
Felt strong as speed stronger
I jumped right out of the Foreign Affairs Office
Hopped on my bike and started down Handan lu
Tried to invent a short-cut to the Consulate
And found myself lost in the factory belt
With only the TV tower to navigate by
In those dusty outer districts I even knocked
Down by accident of course a female comrade
And cursed her in English for my mistake
This was at the cobbled bridge at Shimen Er lu
And I had been going for almost half an hour
Whispering to myself everything will be alright
We'll get married and go to America
Simon Schuchat:In the Multi-storied Hotel, from At Baoshan, in The East Village Poetry Web, Volume 1, 1998

Graffiti on the wall in front of the seawall -- 那么爱你为什(么), "Love
you so much, why?" (Baoshan, Shanghai): photo by ruohuif, 30 April 2011

(By the by, Simon is now retired from diplomatic service and giving long overdue attention to his poetry -- on Wednesday night next he will be doing his first reading of the century, at St Marks Poetry Project in NYC.)

Tom: good that you have some Simon. He turned up at a reading Doug Lang and I did in DC about a month ago, looking spruce. First time I'd seen him since those Chicago days of the mid-seventies..... so our meetings bracket his career. He was in excellent form and I look forward to his retirement into poetry. love, Tom